Hello, my fellow Zootopians!

And the nightmare is unfolding slowly ...

This chapter actually is little more than a transitional one, addressing a few issues that came up in some of the reviews I received (I'm particularly looking at you, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps). There's little in the sense of story development, but the implications, those are quite a different kind of beast.

These are the current stats: This story was viewed more than 32,000 times, I received 259 reviews, plus it had been declared a favorite by 160 people, and 247 people are alerted whenever I publish a new chapter. Thank you yet again!

I received reviews from these exalted members of the human race: J Shute Norway, Combat Engineer, Dirtkid123, GhostWolf88, PrincessRainbowSparkles, HawkTooth, Cimar of Turalis WildeHopps, and one anonymous guest. (Kudos to you, but if you don't give the quote you claim to have found, how should I be able to verify your claim?) My eternal gratitude is yours, my dear friends!

The chapter's title is, of course, a reference to the song of the same name by Alice Cooper. (Written by Alice Cooper and Michael Bruce, from the album "Billion Dollar Babies," Warner, 1973.) Not a particular favorite of mine (I've never been a big fan of Alice Cooper anyway), but I think the title fits this chapter like a glove. You'll soon know why.

The disclaimer can be found in the first chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Six

No More Mr. Nice Guy

Come on now, people. Let's get on the ball and work together.

Wilbert Harrison One Man Band: "Let's Work Together" (Written by Wilbert Harrison, published as the single "Let's Work Together (Part 1)," Sue Records, 1969)

Madge Badger was just taking off her lab coat when her phone began to ring. With a frown, she looked at the display. What with the time already being half an hour after home time, she wasn't particularly eager to take the call, but she knew she had little choice in that regard. When you run a business, everybody automatically seems to assume that you should be available at all times. After all, you never know ...

Then she stared.

I remember that number!

She picked up the phone. "Hey, how you're doin'? I'm sorry you couldn't get through. 'Cause this is a message that's been recorded especially for you."

The mammal at the other end of the line chuckled. "Your singing voice hasn't improved, Honey."

She smiled. "You wouldn't recognize a good singing voice if it was dancing buck-naked in front of you, Armando."

Armando Peralta laughed. "You're probably right."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

His voice became serious again. "Haven't you heard the news?"

"To which news are you referring?"

Peralta made a pause. "So you haven't. Too bad."

Badger rolled her eyes. "Don't leave me hanging here!"

"Savage cheetah in a kindergarten."

He said it in such a casual tone that it didn't properly register with Badger at first. "What was that?"

"A cheetah turned savage at her kindergarten. Ripped seven kits and two adults to shreds, injured several more."

Badger sat down on her office chair in shock. "Holy catfish!"

"My sentiments exactly. It was all over the news."

"I never watch the news while at work, and neither do my employees. Didn't they try the antidote?"

"They did. It killed her."

"Are you for real?"

"You heard me. Nobody knows why. You know why I'm calling?"

Badger got up from her chair again, determination flooding her veins. "Count me in! I'm on my way. Should I ask Billy if he wants to join us?"

"I was just about to ask you. He knows way more about plants and herbs than all of us combined."

"That he does. We'll be with you in a few."

"Looking forward to it."

Without further ado, Badger disconnected and walked over to her coat rack. Replacing her lab coat with her jacket, she left her office and walked out into the lab.

Much to her surprise, all her employees were still there. Most of them usually left for home around the time Badger herself ended her work day, with the exception of Billy Hopps, who never seemed to mind working extra hours - as a matter of fact, she often had to kick him out. This time, however, every one of them was still there, and they were standing around Billy, who held a smartphone in his paw which they all looked at.

And they all looked eerily subdued.

Upon hearing her leave her office, Billy looked up. "Have you heard?"

Badger nodded. "Savage mammal in a kindergarten, yes. Armando just told me."

Billy's eyes widened. "So ..."

"Yeah, he asked for my help. For our help actually. You mind coming along?"

"Wait, you want me to join you?"

"We'd be happy if you would."

"I'm in!" He pocketed his smartphone.

Badger turned towards the marbled cat. "Haz, it's possible that Billy and I won't be here tomorrow. We might even be gone for a couple of weeks. Just deal with whatever comes your way the way you see fit, and if anything happens you think you can't deal with, don't hesitate to give me a call."

"You got it, Honey." Although Badger had no real deputy in the sense of the word, Hazwan Johari had been her first employee, so he was the one who ran the show when she wasn't there. And since he had always done a good job during those times, she usually just relied on him to keep the place together in her absence.

"You'll turn off the lights and lock the door?"

"You can count on it."

She turned towards Billy. "Come on, Billy! Let's get going!"

"I'm right behind you."

Billy and Badger left the building together. When she saw Billy turn towards his car, she shook her head. "We'll take mine. I live in the neighborhood and need to return here anyway."

He turned around without saying a word and climbed into her car.

Once they were moving, Badger spared him a look. As a rule, Billy was known for being quite the talkative one, so not hearing him say anything was ... strange. He was just staring straight ahead, sitting every bit as unmoving as a statue. And since she had to concentrate on the usual madness that was Zootopia during rush hour, some five minutes had passed until she was able to say: "What's on your mind, Billy?"

He sighed. "Savage carnivores ... you think they were poisoned again?"

"In all likelihood, yes. Or why, do you think, is Armando putting the team back together?"

Billy made another pause. "I'm really asking myself who could profit from turning carnivores savage."

"People like Bellwether, mammals who think along her lines?"

Billy snorted. "Honey, after what Bellwether and this Ramses guy did, Nighthowlers or similar plants are no longer a viable method to instill fear in the hearts of the people. Whenever mammals turn savage, the first thing everybody thinks of is that Nighthowlers are involved. And unless you're targeted yourself, or someone in your vicinity is targeted and attacks you, this isn't exactly the greatest of threats."

"Excuse me? Mammals died today!"

"Yes, and that's horrible, but everybody knows they died because of acute Nighthowler poisoning. They did not die because that cheetah decided that turning savage is a fun pastime. And everybody knows that. So, who could profit from turning carnivores savage? How could anyone still think this might work? 'Cause it won't."

Badger nodded. Billy had a good point there. "I have no idea." Badger smiled. "Isn't that for your sister to find out?"

"She works at Homicide Squad, and since this isn't exactly a murder case, I don't think it's hers. I wouldn't be surprised if Chief Bogo himself makes this his own."

"He probably will." She sighed. "But you know what they say: Some men just want to watch the world burn. And you know just as well as me that there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of assholes out there."

Billy looked at her. "The idea of Zootopia as the melting pot uniting different and most diverse species has existed for centuries, and it has always worked, more or less. It's a good idea, an idea worth pursuing, and at least in theory, everybody profits from this. Why destroy this? Who could be this hell-bent on destroying such a great idea? I mean, just look at Nick and Judy! Just look at us! Just look at the team we're about to join! A giraffe, an ocelot, an aardvark, a mouse, a honey badger, and a rabbit. You couldn't ask for a more diverse group. Yet, it works! And this goes, basically, for all of Zootopia. It just works! Why destroy this?"

"Just for the fun of it?"

Billy just stared at her.

Badger sighed. "Look, Billy, I have no idea who could want to destroy what we have, or why. But what I do know is that if you think about it too hard, you'll just drive yourself nuts." She gave him a smile. "And we don't want that, do we?"

Billy just snorted and turned away, looking through the windscreen.

Badger raised an eyebrow. She had never seen Billy in a mood like this, it was so contradictory to his usual relaxed, humorous, carefree attitude. It was almost disconcerting. "Come on, cheer up! It's not the end of the world as we know it."

"Yeah, I know, but ... I just don't understand it. Why can't people live together in peace and harmony for a change? I just don't ... I just don't get it."

"Neither do I, but like I said, if you think about it too hard, you'll drive yourself nuts. The world is just twisted and broken, and nothing you think or do will change anything about it."

Billy took a deep breath. "So you suggest I should just forget about it and focus on the task at paw?"

"It's what I usually do. The moment I start thinking about the big picture is the moment I'd love to kick someone in the keister. So I don't. Better for my sanity. And their keisters." She made a turn at a crossing, directing her car towards City Center. "Our task at paw seems to be hard enough as it is."

"Yeah. Did Armando tell you anything?"

"Not really. Just that a cheetah went savage and ripped seven kits and two adults to shreds."

"Yeah, that's what they said on ZNN, too."

"And what's worst, he also told me that when they applied the cure, it killed her."

Billy stared at her. "They didn't say that one on ZNN."

"Yet it's true, obviously." Badger sighed. "As you can see, we seem to have a lot of work on our paws. I see a lot of long hours and little sleep in our immediate future."

"Yeah, that's probably ..." Billy made a pause, and his eyes widened. "Shit!"

Badger looked at him. He was busy pulling his smartphone out of his pocket. "What's wrong?"

"Forgot something very important." He dialed a number and pressed the smartphone to his head. "Hi, Judy, it's me, Billy. Could you do me a favor? Something came up at work, and I probably won't make it back in time. I'm already late as it is. Could you please be an angel and collect KayDee for me? Thanks! I owe you one! Bye!" He pocketed the phone again.

Badger looked at him in slight amusement. "KayDee?"

"My girlfriend," Billy replied curtly.

"You have a girlfriend? And you never introduced her to me? Shame on you, William Hopps!"

The corners of Billy's mouth twitched. "And why would I ever do that? She'll be traumatized for life!"

Badger grinned. That was more like the Billy Hopps she had gotten to know. "You mean, she'll be blinded."

"Blinded?"

"By my stunning beauty."

Billy finally grinned. "That's a definition of the word 'beauty' I wasn't aware of before."

Badger gave a hearty laugh. "So you finally found yourself a doe to cuddle with! I'm happy for you!"

Billy hesitated. "KayDee is ... not a doe."

She looked at him with a frown. Billy was nibbling his lower lip, as if he had said too much, as if he had revealed something to her he hadn't intended to. "Not?"

"Are we going to Precinct One, or where are you taking us?" It was a blatant attempt to change the topic.

Which didn't work with Badger. "Yes, we are, but you're stalling! Come on, tell me! Is she a ..." Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Hang on a minute! That vixen who fixed your computer ... her name was KayDee, right?"

There was no mistaking the red tinge that shone through Billy's fur. His shoulders slumped. "It's her, yeah." He took a deep breath. "I'm dating a vixen. Happy?" His voice was quite caustic.

Badger smiled. "You know, when I was going to college, I had a fierce crush on the football team's wide receiver. He was gorgeous! When he was dashing down the sidelines, his long mane flowing in the wind, I almost swooned. I even auditioned for the cheerleading squad, just to be near him."

Billy looked at her, confusion on his face. "Since when do honey badgers have long manes?"

"Who said he was a honey badger? He was a horse."

Billy spluttered. "A horse?!"

"Yup."

"Wh... What happened?"

She gave him a sardonic grin. "What do you think? We graduated, he moved, end of story. And just in case you're wondering, I never made it into the cheerleading squad, seeing that my physical fitness was bordering on non-existent." She gave a chortle. "I don't think he ever realized that I was even there. He was one of the in-crowd, I was the nerd with the baggy pants and the oversized glasses."

"I didn't know you wear glasses."

"I had LASIK eye surgery some ten years ago. Up until that point, I was wearing a set of glass bricks, literally."

Billy grinned. "What happened to the horse?"

"To Billy? Yeah, his name was Billy, too. He found himself a job and a wife, with whom he had three kids. The next time I saw him, at some class reunion about a decade later, he had won some and lost some."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, he had won some 300 pounds and lost all of his luster."

"Good thing he never spotted you, eh?"

"You bet!" She made a pause. "Believe me, you having a crush on a mammal of another species, that's not as uncommon as you think. After all, half of Zootopia's in love with Gazelle."

"That ... might even be an understatement."

"By the way, did you know that she's dating a wolf?"

"Really? A wolf?"

"That's what the rumor mill says, at least. Some country singer I've never heard of."

"Hang on, are we talking about the one she did a duet with on her latest album? Hiram Sheppard?"

"Yeah, I think that's the name I read. It was mentioned in one of those women's magazines I only read while waiting at the hairdresser."

He snorted. "I don't think they're dating. She'd be stupid to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on! Would you openly date a herbivore in today's society? I try my hardest to keep my relationship with KayDee a secret, and so do Nick and Judy with theirs."

"And so does Gazelle. Like I said, it's just a rumor presented in a woman's magazine of rather dubious reputation. Which means it probably isn't true anyway."

Billy hesitated, then he grinned. "But if it is true, Clawhauser won't like it."

"Who's Clawhauser?"

"One of Judy's workmates and probably Gazelle's biggest fan on this planet."

"You mean the cheetah working at the reception desk? The one with the Gazelle mug?"

"That's the one, yeah. Benjamin Clawhauser. Most fan-girly male I've ever come across." He looked at his wristwatch. "Damn shame that it's so late. Night shift will probably have started already."

"You mean he isn't there anymore?" Upon reaching Precinct One's HQ, Badger made the turn onto its vast parking lot.

"Probably not. Ben may be known for not minding working overtime, but it's already past six pm, and that's when the night shift usually takes over, so ..."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

"Not necessarily. But he's a good friend of Judy and Nick. When Nick turned 37, he threw a party, and Clawhauser was one of the guests. That's where I got to know him a bit better. A really nice guy."

Badger parked the car, they got out and walked around the building towards its main entrance. While working on the cure the first time, she had come here quite often, so she knew her way around, but she had never taken the time to talk to the mammals working there. With the single exception of Judy Hopps and Armando Peralta, she knew most officers and civilians only from sight.

The mammal sitting behind the receptionist's desk, a female horse, was completely unfamiliar to her.

"Well, talk of the devil," Billy said softly.

"What do you mean?" Badger asked.

"Didn't we just talk about horses?"

She gave him a playful nudge. "I thought you were more into vixen."

"Shut up!"

They approached the desk, and Billy cleared his throat. Upon hearing this, the horse looked up from whatever she had been reading. "Doctors Madge Badger and William Hopps?"

"That would be us, yes," Badger said, showing her identity card as they approached the desk, as did Billy.

"Welcome to Precinct One! Doctor Peralta told me you'd be stopping by. He also said that you knew the way."

"We do, thanks."

They turned away from the desk and towards the elevator. On their way there, Badger looked at Billy and was surprised to see that his face showed a frown. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Judy told me they shut the revolving doors when night shift begins, and the receptionist's desk usually isn't occupied either."

"And if you need to get in?"

"There's an intercom next to the entrance. Someone comes down and opens the door for you."

Even before they had reached the elevator, it opened, and several mammals emerged. Badger knew none of them, but Billy obviously did. "Hey, Francine! Still here?"

The huge elephant nodded, a surly expression on her face. "As you can see. Sorry, Billy, would love to stop for a chat, but we've got work to do." She marched past them with long strides. The other officers never even spared them a glance.

"That's odd." Billy looked at Badger. "Half the day shift still seems to be here."

"Because of the savage cheetah?"

"Must be." They entered the elevator, and Billy pressed the button for the basement level. "I can imagine there was quite the turmoil here."

ZPDs forensics lab was situated in the basement of one of the most remote corners of Precinct One, and considering the smell that attacked their sensitive noses, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Badger couldn't help wrinkling her nose, and so did Billy. The mixture of disinfectant and decay was simply repulsive.

"I never understood how someone could stand working here," Badger said under her breath.

Billy shrugged. "You get used to it. Just as you get used to the stench of Midnicampum holicithias. My dad always says the smell doesn't even register with him anymore."

"Happy bunny!"

Billy grinned, but refrained from replying. Instead, he pushed the door leading into ZPDs forensics lab open.

Armando Peralta was already waiting for them. "Hello, you two!"

"Hello, Armando! Are we the last to arrive?" Badger asked.

Peralta nodded. "Indeed you are. Follow me."

Together, the three mammals walked into the conference room, where they were met by three more mammals who were sitting at a long conference table.

"Alright," Peralta said in a loud voice while walking towards the front of the room. "Now that we're complete, let's begin! Time is short, and we have tons of work to do!"

Badger sat down next to Gerard Gusteau, a rather stocky mouse who ran his own healthcare company, while Billy took a seat next to Eleonore Mitis, an ocelot, professor at Zootopia University and his old dissertation supervisor, who greeted him with a pat on his shoulder.

"First of all," Peralta said, once they were seated, "thanks for taking the time to do this, thanks for rejoining the team. I know you have a lot of things on your respective agendas, but in light of current events, I really need your help. Everything else can wait! Honey brought Billy along, as you can see. And before I forget, congratulations on gaining your doctorate, Billy! Wanted to give you a call for ages, but you know how it is."

"It's okay, Armando," Billy said with a nod. "And thanks a lot!"

Peralta nodded. "Now, let's cut to the chase! You all heard the news, but there's a lot of stuff that didn't make the news that you should know about.

This morning, at around half past ten, a female cheetah, a kindergarten teacher, went savage on the kindergarten's playground. She killed two of her workmates and seven children, plus she injured sixteen more mammals, with some of the injuries being so severe, survival is unlikely. It took one of ZPDs best martial artists to take her down, and she suffered severe facial injuries in the process. Chief Bogo believes that she was targeted with a poison which turned her savage, and I agree. However, there are several ... problems."

"Which are?" This came from Charles Afer, an aardvark who worked at a pharmaceutical company.

"For one, there neither was a stain nor the infamous Nighthowler stench."

"So we cannot be sure if it was the Nighthowlers or not, right?"

"But we can be sure she was poisoned, can we?" Mitis asked.

"Oh, I'm certain she was poisoned, but I can't even begin to tell you which poison was used. Or rather, which mixture of poisons." Peralta picked up a remote control lying on the table. He pressed a button, which activated the projector. Pointing at the image projected at the wall, he said: "This is the preliminary result of her hemogram. As you can see, there are a lot of substances which you won't find in your normal mammal, some of which I haven't even identified yet. I didn't have time for a full spectrographic analysis. We need to identify all of them."

"Did they find essence of Midnicampum holicithias in her blood?" Billy asked.

"They did. However, when we did our little long-term experiment, Billy, the levels of essence in your blood were significantly higher than those she had. In her blood, I found about twenty parts per billion."

"Which means the Badger Test came back positive, right?"

"It did. Which is why they decided to administer our little magic potion during surgery. But this turned out to be a bad idea. Blood pressure and heart rate spiked, and seconds later, her left ventricle just burst."

"How is this possible?" Afer asked.

"The most asked question at the moment," Peralta replied deadpan, "and it's up to us to find out."

"Well," Gusteau said, "the spike in heart rate and blood pressure are easy to explain. I have never seen adrenaline levels that high in a mammal." He pointed at the display. "That much adrenaline in a mammal alone should mean instant death. Your heart simply won't withstand being inundated with adrenaline like that. That's a sure fire heart attack if I ever saw one."

"Yet she had none, to the contrary. As a matter of fact, she was so wound up, one of these wasn't able to bring her down." Peralta picked up a small item lying in front of him.

"What's that?" Mitis asked. "A tranquilizer?"

"It is. More precisely, this is a Level 2 Tranquilizing Dart. It contains a mixture of several sedating agents, one of which is 500 micrograms of etorphine. As you might know, etorphine is used primarily to sedate large mammals like elephants."

"And it didn't kill her instantly?" Mitis' tone of voice was incredulity personified.

"It didn't. As a matter of fact, it didn't even slow her down. In the end, the officer had to strangle her to unconsciousness."

"Wow! Even though her adrenaline levels are out of this world, it should at least have put her to sleep."

"It should have, yet it didn't. There probably are other forces at work here, all of which we need to find." He made a pause. "And it gets worse."

"Worse? How?" Gusteau asked.

"She wasn't the only mammal turning savage."

Badger groaned. "Not? Please, Armando, not another Nighthowler scare!"

"I'm afraid that's exactly what we're looking at here."

Silence fell over the group. After almost one minute, Afer finally asked: "Who was the victim?"

"One of ZPDs officers, and the worst thing is, he turned savage right here, at Precinct One."

"Here?" The shock in Afer's voice was unmistakable.

Billy nodded. "Explains why the day shift's still here."

"Yes. They're looking for the culprit responsible."

"He was caught on camera, I presume," Badger said.

Peralta shrugged. "No idea. I'm not involved in the operative end of things. I just work down here in the lab."

"An officer, you said?" Billy asked. "Who was it?"

"Another cheetah."

Billy flinched. "Clawhauser?"

"You know him?" He made a pause. "Of course you do. Yes, it was Ben."

"Oh, my stars and garters!"

Peralta nodded grimly. "You take the words right out of my mouth, Billy. For those of you who don't know him, Benjamin Clawhauser is Precinct One's receptionist and probably the nicest mammal who ever walked this planet. Everybody loves him, he's friends with everyone, including me. He really is Mr. Nice Guy." He made a pause. "Well, not anymore. One hour ago, he tried to shred Officer Brian McHorn, a rhino, to pieces. And it took this", he picked up another item, "to bring him down."

"Another tranquilizing dart?" Mitis said.

"This is not just any old tranquilizing dart. This, Ladies and Gentlemammals, is a Level One Tranquilizing Dart. It contains no less than ten milligrams of Etorphine."

"Ten?!" Gusteau sounded flabbergasted. "Don't tell me he survived that!"

"He did." Peralta made a pause. "For those of you who don't understand the implications, there's a very good reason police officers commonly call this tranquilizer 'The Black Death.' The amount of etorphine in this little dart is enough to put an elephant to sleep in seconds. It certainly is enough to kill someone like, for instance, you, Billy, one hundred times over. And even when used as intended, when used against the largest of mammals, it still might turn out to be the last thing you do to them, for etorphine is known for causing cardiopulmonary depression."

"Don't tell me," Afer said deadpan. "It didn't exactly cause the cheetah's heart rate to drop."

"To the contrary. When they brought Clawhauser here, his heart rate was a solid 150. Way higher then what it should have been. And he threatened to come to again a few minutes later. I was forced to put him in a drug-induced sleep, and you won't believe the amounts of sedatives I had to use."

"You probably didn't have time for a hemogram." Gusteau said.

"You're right, but took a tiny sample of his blood and used the Badger Test. And it came back negative."

"So there is no essence of Nighthowler in his blood."

"If there is, it's too small an amount to trigger the chemical reaction."

"So we have one cheetah - one dead cheetah - with a tiny amount of Nighthowlers in her system, we have another cheetah with no discernible amount of Nighthowlers in his system. Both turned savage, and we don't know why," Afer said.

"Oh, we do know why!" There was a distinct snarl to Mitis' voice. "We know damn well why!"

Badger looked at her, and she wasn't the only one.

"What do you mean, Eleonore?" Peralta asked.

"Come on! Ramses is sprung from prison, and several months later, we have this!"

"You think it's him?" Badger asked.

"I know it's him!"

"Do you know him?"

"I do, yes. He was one of my students once." She looked at Billy. "As a matter of fact, he was one of your predecessors."

"He was?" Billy asked. "You were his dissertation supervisor?"

"I was."

"Hang on, back then, you didn't tell us that you knew the guy who created the poison."

"Because I didn't know it was him. The first time I heard that he had been involved, that he had created the Nighthowler serum, was during the trials, long after we had teamed up to create the antidote. But the moment I heard it ... let's just say it explained a lot."

"Was he such an, ahem, a-hole?"

"You have no idea, Billy." Mitis leant back in her chair. "When it came to chemistry, he had no equal. He had an almost intuitive understanding of the mechanics behind chemical reactions, he knew perfectly well what worked and what didn't, and he had a photographic memory for ingredients and agents contained within plants or similar things. We went to a supermarket once, and on a whim, I picked up random items from the shelves and asked him for the ingredients. He made no mistakes. Ten random items, confectionary, cleaning agents, ready meals - it didn't matter which one I picked, he was always able to tell me precisely what was in them. He was absolutely brilliant."

"This sounds like there's a huge 'however' on the way," Gusteau said.

"Yes, there is. His true area of expertise were agents and counteragents. He always was on the lookout for drugs which could counteract the effects of poisons or other drugs. One day, he came to me and suggested we try and administer a poison to students, unbeknownst to them, to see if the antidote he had concocted works."

"You've got to be kidding!" Afer said.

"I'm not, I wish I was. At first, I had believed he had tried a rather lame attempt at a joke, but he hadn't; he had been dead serious about that. Of course I told him that this was a no-no, and he merely shrugged and said: 'Gee, that's too bad. I guess Stephanie will die then.'"

Peralta stared at her. "He had already done it?"

"He had. During a party two days earlier, he had poured his poison into the poor polecat's drink. By the time we finally got to her, she was on the brink of death. We were able to save her, but her liver had been affected so severely, she needed a liver transplant. She survived, but it had been a very close call."

"So Zoo U kicked him out," Gusteau said.

"You can bet we did expel him. Good riddance, I thought back then."

"Hang on," Billy said, "there was no trial?"

"There was, but since he had told me in time, since he had confessed to his crime without hesitation, he got away with probation and a fee. Which was huge. To everybody's surprise, he was able to pay it almost immediately. And shortly after that, he disappeared from the radar. Only to emerge, years later, as the mastermind behind the Nighthowler serum."

"A true paragon of the scientific community," Gusteau commented drily.

"That he was."

"That he still is," Peralta said. "If he's the guy behind this, we've got our work cut out for us."

"We sure have. Like I said, when it came to chemical agents, he had no equal."

Afer gave a smile. "I like to think we're not that bad ourselves."

"No, we are better than him," Gusteau said with determination in his voice. "We've beaten him once, we'll do it again!"

Peralta nodded. "That's the spirit, Jerry. Alright, I suggest you go home to try and get a good night's sleep. I need every one of you at the height of your abilities. We'll convene again tomorrow, at eight o'clock sharp."

"I sincerely hope you've listened to yourself, Armando," Badger said. "Don't burn the midnight oil! We need you at the height of your abilities, too."

Peralta rolled his eyes. "Thanks, mom!"

They all got up from their chairs, said their farewells and left the forensics lab.

Another chapter done and dusted!

Just in case you're wondering, Honey's comments on "the big picture" are mine. As far as I'm concerned, the world's one big lunatic asylum at the moment. If I had my way, I would throw some idiots into the deepest dungeons and throw away the key. Why can't they all just try and live together in peace and harmony? I'll never understand it. And that's why I try my damndest to never think about it - the thought alone is way too depressing. To be honest, whenever I watch the news these days, I'm kinda glad that I have no children ...

On to brighter things!

Etorphine is indeed the drug of choice if you want to sedate an elephant. It has a very fast onset, lasts for about ten to fifteen minutes, and is so potent, it'll kill humans the moment it enters the system. A rather accidental discovery of mine, but quite a good one here.

One short comment on one of the names: The marbled cat, Pardofelis marmorata, is native to Borneo, Sumatra, and other south-east Asian regions. And Hazwan Johari would be a perfectly normal name in the country of Brunei, a country you can find on Borneo. As a matter of fact, it's the amalgamation of two of Brunei's soccer players, Hazwan Hamzah and Tarmizi Johari. And no, I have never watched a soccer match by the Brunei National Team, nor have I ever heard of the players - soccer maybe be the number-one form of sport in Germany, but I actually don't like it all that much. Plus I'm pretty much useless at playing soccer. I just found this while abusing Wikipedia.

Another name I should explain is that of Hiram Sheppard. Hiram is the birth name of famous country singer Hiram King "Hank" Williams, and Sheppard was the last name of his first wife, Audrey Mae Sheppard Williams, the mother of Hank Williams Jr. I simply like the name for its ludicrousness. A wolf as a shepherd? Yeah, right!

There are lines from a song hidden in here - not that difficult to find actually. I'd like you to tell me which song it was taken from. And no, it's not the one you're probably thinking of at first ... and that's all the help you get from me!

I also added a quote from the movie "X-Men: The Last Stand." Really curious if you can find that one!

Should I really ask for the quote from the movie "The Dark Knight?" I've mentioned it several times already.

That's it for today! Thank you for reading, and if you'd be willing to send a review my way, I'd be ecstatic!

Take care!

J.O. aka TheCatweazle